


The Most Convenient Definitions

by GeekLover



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Community: reel_merlin, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fanfiction, First Kiss, M/M, Pining, Secret Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-05-01 17:48:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5215013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeekLover/pseuds/GeekLover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal walk into a library. No one comes out the same.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Most Convenient Definitions

**Author's Note:**

> Written for reel_merlin 2015. A "The Breakfast Club" fusion.
> 
> "The Breakfast Club" is probably my absolute favorite movie so I hope I did it justice.
> 
> I tried to do research on this, but I didn't have a britpicker, so there will probably be a lot of discrepancies. Like I don't know if secondary schools teach shop, but in this story they do. :)

_Saturday...March 24, 1984. Avalon Academy. Camelot, England. WC2N. ...Dear Mr. Pendragon...we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was that we did wrong, what we did was wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write this essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us...in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at seven o'clock this morning. We were brainwashed…_

Merlin increased his pace as he saw Avalon Academy come into view. It’s not as if he was excited to spend a Saturday in detention, but sadly, it beat his other prospects for the day. Merlin stumbled and cursed when he fell to the ground and his hand landed in a puddle. 

As he struggled to his feet, he wiped his hands on his black pants. He wasn’t really worried about getting dirty and it wasn’t like anyone would spot anything with his all black outfit, not that anyone would be looking at him.

When he got a little closer, he saw a Grey BMW pull up. He recognized the blonde boy slumped down in the backseat. Arthur DuBois. 

Merlin gulped. He didn’t know Arthur was going to be in detention. He froze and contemplated just turning around and leaving, but he realized there was no reason to worry. He was as invisible to Arthur as he was to everyone else. A day together in detention wouldn’t change that.

~*~

Arthur rolled his eyes as Morgana tried for the hundredth time to get their father to do something about the “scathing injustice” of having to spend a Saturday in detention. But their father Agravaine literally pat her on the head and sent her off with her lunch.

His face hardened as he looked in the rearview mirror and stared until Arthur was forced to make eye contact with him.

“I trust this is the last time, you’ll make this mistake?” Agravaine stated in a cool, crisp voice.

Arthur silently nodded.

“I understand what you did. I don’t have a problem with you having a little frivolity in your life, but not at the expense of your future.”

Arthur gripped the door handle. “I’m well aware. “Mother” already gave me a lecture.”

Agravaine whirled around and Arthur caught the look in his eyes and almost melted into the backseat. “You’d do well to mind your tongue with me. Do you think Oxford would dare take on a student who has proven to be a constant troublemaker?”

Arthur shook his head. 

“Speak up!” Agravaine spit out.

“No.”

Agravaine stared at Arthur before he slowly turned back around. “Off you go then.”

Arthur gritted his teeth and knew better than to say anything else. He got out of the car and slammed the door. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them he saw a gangly boy staring at him from across the street.

When the boy saw that Arthur had spotted him, he flipped the fur lined hood of his jacket over his head. Arthur crossed his arms over his chest and turned to walk towards the school. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the boy was also walking, but very slowly behind Arthur. 

It was getting cold and he zipped up his red and gold Varsity jacket. Arthur thought that he recognized the boy, but his name wasn’t coming to him. Finally, Arthur shrugged and stopped thinking about it. He supposed he would find it out later.

When he walked into the library, he briefly looked around the room. There were six tables. The only other person in there besides his sister was a younger boy with shaggy brunette hair sitting behind her. 

Arthur stood in front of the table Morgana was seated at. She didn’t look up at him and was rummaging around in her purse. There was an empty table next to her and Arthur considered taking a seat there, but he decided to sit next to Morgana. They may not be getting along right now, but he’d rather suffer through the day next to her, then some stranger.

He cleared his throat and Morgana pursed her lips. He just pointed to the seat next to her. She merely shrugged, but it was good enough.

After a few minutes, Arthur looked up and saw another young man walk in. He had medium-length brown hair which was covering his face. He touched everything on the checkout desk and put some things in the pockets of his long, grey coat.

As he walked by their desk, Arthur could see his face and sighed. He recognized Gwaine Bender. He had a bad reputation and was always in trouble. It seemed their headmaster had a particular hatred for him and he was always on the verge of getting expelled.

When Gwaine got to the table behind them, he glowered at the boy sitting there. The boy immediately stumbled up and moved to the next table. Arthur shook his head.

As he turned back to give Gwaine a dirty look, he saw the boy from earlier shuffle in. It was as if he was in some sort of race to sit down. He got to a table in the back and slumped down with his back to the rest of them. He had shaggy hair that almost reached his shoulders.

Arthur didn’t have time to contemplate what his issues were because he heard another person come in. His back immediately straightened when he saw that it was their headmaster Uther Pendragon.

He stood in front of them all and took a look at each one of them. His scowl deepened when he looked over at Gwaine. Arthur wondered whose scowl was scarier - his dad or Uther’s.

“Well, well, well. I congratulate you all for being on time.”

Morgana raised her hand. She didn’t wait to get permission to talk. “I think there’s been some sort of mistake. I know that this is detention, but I don’t belong in here.”

Uther glowered at her before he continued speaking. He looked down at his watch. “It is now 7:06. You have exactly eight hours and fifty-four minutes to think about why you’re here - to ponder the error of your ways.

Arthur heard a sound behind him and turned around in time to see Gwaine hawk spit out of his mouth and catch it in his mouth. Arthur turned up his nose and he could see that Morgana was turning green.

Uther didn’t seem to register Gwaine’s behavior. “You will not talk. You will not move from these seats.” He pointed at Gwaine. “And you will not sleep.” He stared at them all.

Arthur sensed that he got a real thrill at being in charge and getting to make their day miserable.

“We will be trying something a bit different today. You are to write an essay…” Everyone groaned. ...Of no less than a thousand words telling me who you think you are.”

“Is this a bloody test?” Gwaine asked.

Uther turned around and picked up papers and pencils on the desk behind him. He started over at Arthur and Morgana’s table and set paper and pencil down. “And when I say essay, I mean essay. I don’t mean one word repeated a thousand times. Is that clear, Mr. Bender?”

Gwaine smirked. “Crystal.”

“I hope you will learn something about yourself and decide whether or not you care to return.”

The younger boy stood up. “I can answer that right now. The answer would be ‘no’ for me, sir.”

“Sit down, Johnson.”

He nodded immediately. “Thank you, sir.”

Uther pointed behind him. “My office is right across the hall. Any tomfoolery would be ill-advised.” He looked around at everyone. “Any questions?”

Gwaine cleared his throat. “Yeah, I have one. Does Tom Jones know that you nicked his wardrobe?”

Arthur bit the inside of his cheek. Alright, he had to admit that was funny.

“I’ll give you the answer to that Mr. Bender, next Saturday. Don’t mess with the bull young man, you’ll get the horns.”

He glared at them all before he turned around and left.

“What a tosser!” Gwaine grumbled.

~*~

Merlin bit his nails as he looked down at the blank paper. He had no idea what he could write. Even if he knew who he was, he certainly didn’t want try to explain that in an essay Mr. Pendragon probably wouldn’t read anyway.

Once he’d chewed the nail on his right thumb down as far he could go, he was about to move onto the next finger when he felt several pairs of eyes on him. 

He looked up at saw the others watching him. He hadn’t realized how loud he was being.

Morgana looked disgusted. The younger boy, Merlin thought his name was Mordred, just looked at Merlin like he was some sort of alien life form. And Arthur...he was just staring at him with an unreadable expression.

But Gwaine, the corner of his mouth upturned, looked totally amused. It was as if he had found his new favorite plaything.

“You keep eating your hand like that you’re not going to be hungry for lunch,” Gwaine drawled.

He sounded so patronizing. Merlin deliberately bit off some of his nail and spit it at him.

Instead of being angry, Gwaine’s grin grew wider and he pointed at Merlin. “I’ve seen you before.”

Merlin turned away. He always thought he would appreciative to know that someone noticed him, but he certainly did not like the way Gwaine was looking at him. 

He was familiar with Gwaine as well. Gwaine could be a prick, but he could be good for a laugh as well.

While still grinning, Gwaine swiveled around in his chair and looked straight ahead.

Merlin realized he was wrong. As he watched Gwaine leer at Morgana, he realized she would be his favorite plaything.

Gwaine quietly crumpled a piece of paper and threw it in front of him. It sailed in between Arthur and Morgana. They glanced at it briefly, but said nothing.

Undeterred, Gwaine soon started humming. “Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah…” He got louder and louder.

Clearly not getting the response he wanted, he seemed to switch tactics and stopped abruptly.

“Bollocks! What are we supposed to do if we have to take a piss?” He didn’t wait for a response. “Well, if you have to go, you have to go.” 

There was the loud sound of a zipper being unzipped.

Arthur and Morgana whirled around immediately.

“Oh, God!” Morgana covered her eyes.

“Hey, wanker, you’re not urinating in here!” Arthur glared at Gwaine.

“Would you shut it? And stop looking at me pervert! You’re making it shrink!”

“I highly doubt I have anything to do with any shrinking.”

Gwaine gave a brief, mock laugh. “A pretty face and humor, why don’t you just have the perfect package, princess!”

“Oh, for God’s sake, why don’t the both of you just shut up!” Morgana looked between the two of them.

Gwaine paused and then slowly sat back.

Merlin knew he hadn’t given up that easily. 

He was proven right when Gwaine looked to his left at Mordred. “Hey, little nipper. Why don’t you go and close that door.” He gestured to the red double doors at the side of the room and then he turned to Morgana. “We’re going to get the Prom Queen impregnated.”

Morgana’s nostrils flared and she looked ready to throttle Gwaine.

“Hey!” Arthur yelled.

Gwaine slowly turned to Arthur, though his eyes lingered on Morgana. 

“Hey!”

Gwaine finally gave Arthur his full attention. “What?”

“Do you want me to thrash you?”

Gwaine blinked. “What?”

“If you don’t back off, you’ll find out exactly what I mean. Do you understand?”

“Not remotely.” 

It seemed good enough for Arthur and faced forward again.

Morgana peered at him. “My hero.” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

“Would you prefer him to continue pestering you?”

“What I would prefer is for you to use your brain.”

Arthur sighed loudly.

“It’s obvious he’s just trying to get you to rise to his bait,” Morgana continued. “Just ignore him.”

“Love.” Gwaine whistled and Morgana glanced back at him. “You couldn’t ignore me if you tried.”

Morgana narrowed her eyes, but didn’t say anything.

It only took Gwaine a few seconds to start up again. “So are you two boyfriend/girlfriend. Lovers…” He leaned over the table. “Level with me, princess, do you shag her until her eyes pop?”

“Sod off!”

“Go to hell!”

Arthur and Morgana screamed simultaneously. 

Gwaine grinned.

“What the devil is going on out there?” They heard Uther yell.

Everyone paused and waited to see if Uther would make an appearance, but after a minute he it was clear he wasn’t coming.

Merlin could see how much Gwaine was enjoying things as he leaned back in his seat and smiled.

From the look Merlin saw in Arthur’s eyes the last two times he looked at Gwaine, if he wasn’t careful Gwaine would get his arse handed to him repeatedly.

~*~

Arthur knew that Morgana was right. He should not be letting such a tosser like Gwaine get to him. Given how much of a witch Morgana had been to him lately, he didn’t even know why he was defending her. Still, for some arsehole to make insinuations about him having sex with his own sister, he would not let that kind of vulgarity stand.

Arthur tapped his pencil against his desk and hoped that he could just do what Morgana suggested and ignore Gwaine. 

That was easier said than done when he spotted Gwaine getting up and walking forward. What was the idiot up to now?

“Why don’t we close that door? We can’t really have any fun with that door open and Pendragon keeping track of us,” Gwaine said.

“Bender, according to school regulations the doors must be open at all times.” The younger boy sitting at the table next to Gwaine reported.

“And?”

“And why don’t you shut your mouth?” Arthur blurted out before he could think better of it. “No one here wants to play your games.”

Gwaine shrugged. “I’m just trying to have a good time.”

“We all know what your idea of a good time is and we’re not interested.”

“For once I agree with my brother,” Morgana offered. 

Arthur looked over at her. He didn’t smile at her, but nodded in gratitude.

Gwaine walked over to stand in front of Arthur. “Who made you king of the library?” Gwaine put his hands on the table and leaned closer to Arthur. He looked him up and down. “I’m not surprised a rich wanker like you things you’re better than everyone.”

Arthur didn’t back off as Gwaine invaded his personal space. “Not better than everyone. Just you. You know, Gwaine, you don’t even count. If you dropped dead tomorrow, no one at this school would even remember you existed.”

Even though he had a reputation at school for being a bit of a prat, Arthur had never said anything to anyone so harsh before. He wasn’t exactly proud of the fact that he felt a little thrill at seeing Gwaine finally a little off kilter.

Gwaine looked down and swallowed. He had a tight smile on his face as he stared up at Arthur. “Well, maybe I should join the football team then.”

Arthur shook his head and laughed outright. 

“Maybe the archer’s club, too.”

“They’d never take you.”

“I’m so hurt.” Gwaine said though it didn’t sound convincing at all.

“You know why losers like you have to make fun of everything,” Morgana added.

Gwaine crossed his arms over his chest and looked up at the ceiling. “This should be brilliant.”

“It’s because you’re a big coward.”

Gwaine clapped and nodded. “Of course you’re right. You rich kids are so smart. Clearly, that’s why I’m not heavily involved in activities.”

“I’m in the math club.”

Gwaine and Morgana continued to argue as Arthur briefly looked over at the boy who made the comment. 

“You know you’re not good enough and you don’t belong so you have to mock everything.”

Gwaine hopped onto the table and sat right in front of Morgana. “And you don’t think it has anything to do with your rich kids being arseholes?”

Morgana shook her head. “How would you even know that? You don’t know any of us.”

“I don’t know any lepers either, but I’m not going to join one of their fucking clubs.”

“Hey, watch your mouth!” Arthur shouted.

“I’m in the physics club, too.”

They all turned to the younger boy now and his face seemed to light up now that he had their attention.

“What the fuck are you babbling about?” Gwaine of course had to state as coarsely as possible.

The boy cleared his throat. “I just said that I’m in the math club, the chess club, and the physics club.”

“Hey, Snow White.” Gwaine loomed over Morgana. “Do you belong to the physics club?”

Morgana looked down at the table. “That’s an academic club.”

“So?”

Morgana suddenly glared at Gwaine. “So academic clubs aren’t the same as other sorts of clubs.”

“But to nerds like that, they are.” Gwaine jumped off the table and stepped closer to the other kid. “What do you do in your clubs?”

He smiled. “Well in math club we talk about math. In chess we play chess. And physics club…” He laughed. “We talk about physics.”

Gwaine stared at him for a moment and then threw a look towards Morgana over his shoulder. “So it’s sort of social. Demented and sad, but social.”

Arthur rubbed the bridge of his nose. He realized he never should have started any kind of conversation with Gwaine. He needed to put a stop to this. If Mr. Pendragon came in and saw them expressly breaking the rules, he would be in more trouble than this was worth.

“Look this is all fascinating, but I have a big match this weekend and I’m not going to miss it because you can’t follow the rules.” 

Gwaine chuckled. “And that would be the ultimate tragedy wouldn’t it? You missing a football game.”

“Fuck off!” Arthur pointed at him. “You wouldn’t know anything about it, you degenerate criminal. You’ve never competed in anything your whole life. You don’t know what it means to be on a team.”

Gwaine fake cried. “And I feel so empty inside. How can I ever lead a satisfying life if I don’t run around a field trying to kick a ball into a net? It’s a real tragedy.”

“As if you have any real goals in life.”

“Oh, but I do.” Gwaine stepped closer to Arthur. “I want to be just like you. I suppose all I need is a lobotomy.”

They suddenly heard footsteps shuffling outside. Gwaine rushed over and sat in between Morgana and Arthur. 

When Mr. Pendragon didn’t come inside, Gwaine stood up. He started to walk towards the double doors. He turned around and walked backwards as he gave Arthur and Morgana a cheesy smile. Arthur just scowled at him.

“I don’t think you should be so close to the door, Mr. Bender. We’re not supposed to be moving around,” the young boy instructed.

“Good lad, have you finished your paper?” Gwaine pointed at him.

He got to the door and started to examine it.

This was not good at all. Arthur thought about getting up and possibly tackling to the ground, but he was afraid that he would just get in trouble along with Gwaine.

“What are you doing?” Morgana asked.

“If there is a God, perhaps he’ll drop dead,” Arthur spit out.

But there was no such luck. Gwaine leaned up and removed a screw from the door. 

“Mr. Bender, that’s school property. I don’t think it’s something to be toyed with.” The boy next to them once again injected his opinion.

The door slammed shut and Gwaine rushed back to his table.

Arthur did a double take and eyed the door and then Gwaine. He didn’t think even he would be stupid enough to do something that would guarantee himself more detention.

Arthur finally fixed his stare on Gwaine. “This isn’t funny. Fix the door.”

Gwaine looked ridiculously pleased with himself. 

“I agree. You should fix it.” The younger boy, who seemed to be the smartest of them all right now, agreed with Arthur.

Gwaine ignored them. “Am I a genius?”

“No, you’re an arsehole! Fix the bloody door!”

Gwaine put a finger to his lips. “Quiet. We’ll get away with this if you just don’t ruin it. I’ve been here before. I know what I’m doing.”

“There’s not a world where I’d actually believe you have any idea what you’re doing. Get up there and fix it!” Arthur insisted.

“Shut your mouth!” Gwaine screamed.

“What in the name of hell!” It was too late.

Arthur hung his head as he heard Mr. Pendragon’s voice. 

He barreled through the door and stormed towards them. “Why is that door closed?”

Gwaine shrugged. “How are we supposed to know? We’re just supposed to sit here, right?”

Uther turned his glare to Arthur. For a second Arthur thought about standing up and giving up Gwaine. Even though Gwaine was a pain in the arse, he just found that he couldn’t do it. He didn’t want to be that guy.

Uther turned his stare to Morgana. “Why?”

Morgana shook her head. “I don’t know. We’re just sitting here, like we’re supposed to.”

“Like hell,” Uther muttered. Finally, he gave his full attention to Gwaine. “Who closed that door?”

“I think a screw fell out of it,” Gwaine explained. Not exactly the truth, but fairly close.

“It just closed, sir,” Arthur added. If they all stuck together, then no one would get in trouble.

Uther stalked to the middle of the room, between Gwaine and the quiet boy in the back. He stared at the boy. “Who?”

Arthur turned to look at him. His eyes rounded and he truly looked like a deer in the headlights.

He squeaked and threw his head down on the table. The hood of his jacket fell over his head.

“I don’t think he talks, sir,” Arthur said. As far as he knew that was correct. Arthur still couldn’t place where he knew him from.

Uther stood right in front of Gwaine’s table. “Give me the screw.”

“I don’t have it.”

Uther balled his hands into a fist. “So help me, I will pull you out of that chair and take it from you.”

“I told you, I don’t have it. Screws fall out all the time; the world’s an imperfect place.”

“I’m not going to ask you again. Give it to me.”

“Excuse me, sir. Why would anyone want to steal a screw?”

Three heads - Arthur’s, Uther’s, and Gwaine’s - whirled around to look at Morgana. Arthur wasn’t sure who was more surprised that she spoke up - him or Gwaine.

Uther looked severely unimpressed. “Mind your tone, young lady.”

Clearly knowing Gwaine will be no help, Uther went back to the door. He looked around him and picked up a tin folding chair and tried to prop it against the door.

“The door is far too heavy, sir,” Gwaine said. He sounded more than a little smug.

Smug or not, Gwaine was right. The door slammed shut despite the chair in front of it.

“Goddamit!”

Arthur tried to fight it off, but couldn’t help snickering. Everyone else laughed, too.

Uther opened the door and came back in. He pointed to Arthur.

“Arthur DuBois, get up here. Come on, right now!”

Arthur sighed. Perhaps if he helped him he would be lenient on him. Maybe he could even go home earlier, not that he was excited to spend any extra time with his dad and stepmother.

When he reached Uther, he pointed at a huge, steel magazine rack. He motioned toward it and then at the door. With a bit of a struggle and some assistance from Uther, Arthur picked it up and they placed it clumsily in front of the door. He tried to climb over it and slipped on the magazines.

“That’s very clever, sir, but what if there’s a fire? I think violating fire codes and endangering the lives of children would be unwise at this juncture in your career, sir.”

Uther glared at Gwaine, but then frowned at his solution. He looked at Arthur with scorn. “What are you doing with this? Get this out of here, for God’s sake! What’s the matter with you?”

Arthur’s fists clenched at his sides, but he shook it off and did at he was told. He’d had several years practicing dealing with an insufferable bully. He moved the magazine rack back and went to take his seat.

Uther followed close behind. For some reason, he glared down at Arthur. “I expected a little more from a varsity letterman.”

Arthur just closed his eyes and sighed. 

Uther focused his rage back on Gwaine. “You’re not fooling anybody, Gwaine. The next screw that falls out will be you!”

Gwaine mumbled something Arthur couldn’t quite hear.

Uther squinted so hard you could barely see the whites of his eyes. “What was that?”

Gwaine sat back in his chair and looked Mr. Pendragon directly in the eye. “Eat. My. Pants!”

“You just got yourself another Saturday,” Uther informed him.

“Bloody hell!”

“That’s another right there.”

Gwaine snorted. “Well, I’m free the Saturday after that. Beyond that, I’m going to have to check my schedule.”

Uther smirked. “Good because it will be filled. If you want another one, just say the word. Instead of going to prison, you’ll come here. Are you through?”

“No.”

“I’m doing the world a favor.”

“What a humanitarian!”

“That’s another. I’ve got you for the rest of your natural life, if you don’t watch out. You want another one?”

“Yes!”

“Stop!” Morgana cried out. 

Once again Arthur was surprised, especially when Morgana and Gwaine shared a look.

Though he would have to admit, even he was wondering what the hell could be going through Gwaine’s mind. He’d never met anyone who was so determined to stick his foot up his own arse. 

But Gwaine would not be deterred from his self-destructive path. 

“Are you done?” Uther asked.

“Not even close, mate!”

“Good! That’s one more.”

“Do you really think I give a shit?”

Uther answered him the only way he knew how. “Another.”

Gwaine just glared at him. 

“Do you want more? I’d happily continue.”

“That depends. How many is that?”

“It’s seven - including the time you asked Mr. Pendragon here whether Tom Jones knew he invaded his wardrobe.” The younger boy interjected. 

Arthur assumed he was trying to helpful, but by the look on Mr. Pendragon’s face he’d missed that goal by a mile.

“Now it’s eight.” He briefly looked over at the overeager boy. “You stay out of it.”

For someone seemingly so smart, the boy couldn’t take a hint. “Excuse me, sir it’s seven.”

“Be quiet, boy!” He turned back to Gwaine and slowly smiled. “Two months. For two months, you’re mine.”

Gwaine crossed his arms in front of his chest and flashed a brief smile. “What can I say? I’m thrilled.”

“I’m sure that’s exactly what you want everyone here to believe.” Uther shook his head.”Mr. Bender, you should spend more time trying to better your life than trying to impress others. You might be better off.” 

Gwaine just stared at him.

Uther exhaled loudly. He looked at the rest of them. “Alright, that is it! The next time I have to come in here, it won’t be pretty.”

As soon as Uther left and the door closed behind him, Gwaine yelled. “Fuck you!!”

Arthur was starting to think self-destructive didn’t even begin to cover Gwaine.

~*~

Things had finally calmed down after the battle of wills between Gwaine and Mr. Pendragon. After about a half hour and only one sentence accomplished, Merlin gave up on writing the essay

Merlin spent another half hour surreptitiously stealing glances at Arthur. He was almost amazed he hadn’t been caught. He smiled when he watched Arthur playing an imaginary game of football. It was nice seeing that he could be normal.

After that, Merlin decided to work on some art. When he was finished drawing the house, he decided to add a unique finishing touch. He knew it was gross, but he used his dandruff to create a winter wonderland. He looked down at the picture and had to admit the final product was very impressive.

Having exhausted most of what he could think to do Merlin realized just how exhausted he was, literally. He was about two seconds away from falling asleep. He saw Gwaine slumped in his chair. Clearly, he wasn’t the only one who was tired.

Merlin decided to just put his head on the desk and let what would happen, happen. It wasn’t long before he fell asleep.

“Wake up!”

Merlin rubbed at his eyes. He opened them and saw an extremely perturbed Uther staring at all of them.

“Who has to go to the loo?”

Every one of them raised their hands.

After they were done going to the restroom, another half hour passed without incident. Merlin was starting to hope that maybe they could get through the day in one piece.

Merlin noticed the side door open and the janitor Gaius came ambling in with his cart. Merlin smiled.

Merlin didn’t have any friends and liked to keep to himself. But every now and then, he desperately wished for someone to confide in. One day Merlin watched Gaius making his rounds, and when he passed him, Merlin had merely said “hello” to him. That led to a brief conversation about their favorite books.

After that, every once and awhile, Merlin and Gaius would have other conversations. They were never for too long, but he enjoyed them nevertheless.

When Gaius spotted him, he smiled and waved. “Hello, Merlin.”

Merlin waved back.

“Your father work here?” Gwaine snickered.

Merlin chose to ignore him.

“Uh, Gaius?” Gwaine said.

“Yes?”

“Can I ask you a question?”

By the look on Gaius’ face, Merlin could tell he felt like this might be a mistake, but he still nodded. 

“How does one become a janitor?”

“Do you want to be a janitor?”

“No, I just want to know how one becomes a janitor because Arthur here is very interested in pursuing a career in the custodial arts.”

Arthur looked at Gwaine and glared. He looked back at Gaius and rubbed the back of his neck. He looked apologetic.

Gaius just had a small smile on his face as he looked at all of them. “Is that right? I suppose some of you think that I’m just some untouchable peasant? Peon?” Gaius raised his eyebrow. “Huh? Perhaps, but following a broom around after pillocks like you for the past twenty years I’ve learned a few things...I look through your letters. I look through your lockers. I listen to your conversations, you don't know that, but I do. I am the eyes and ears of this institution, my friends.”

Merlin smiled. He wished he could take lessons from Gaius on how to stand up for himself. 

Gaius pointed to the clock above them. “By the way, that clock's twenty minutes fast!”

Merlin laughed.

~*~

Arthur was bored at of his mind. Despite risking breaking the rules, Arthur had to get up. He started mindlessly doing some stretches. 

While Gwaine was quiet and not needling anyone, his current activity was still annoying Arthur. Gwaine was sitting on top of a row of books and was just ripping pages out randomly. It was so senseless and stupid. This, he supposed, fit Gwaine’s modus operandi perfectly.

“That’s very intelligent,” Arthur muttered.

“You’re right…” Gwaine tore out more pages. “It’s wrong to destroy literature. The beauty of the written word is indescribable.” He finished that thought by pointing a finger down his throat and pretending to gag. He turned the book over. “I think if I had to read a single word of Molay I’d spew my guts up.”

“That’s Moliere,” the younger boy corrected him with a smile. “His work is amazing.”

Gwaine angrily threw some discarded pages in the boy’s direction. He threw the book aside. He pulled out a section of the card catalog and started rifling through it. “I suppose there’s nothing else to do when you’re locked in a vacancy.”

Morgana scoffed. “Perhaps if you tried reading, instead of tearing books apart you might be able to entertain yourself without opening your gob.” She bit her lip and leaned towards Gwaine. “Or do you not know how to read?”

Gwaine grinned. “Brilliant deduction, love. I made it all the way to secondary school without knowing how to read.”

Morgana just stared back at Gwaine with a small smile on her face.

Arthur wanted to gag at the way they were staring at each other now. His sister had horrible taste in boys, but she couldn’t possibly find a wanker like Gwaine attractive.

Arthur cleared his throat. “So, there’s going to be a big bash at Leon’s tonight. Are you on restriction?”

Morgana cocked her head to the side. “I’m not sure. Mother said I couldn’t go, but father said I should. You know how they are.”

Arthur gave a short nod.

“Why do you care anyway?” A slow smile spread over her face. “It’s not like you could go anyway. Father has forbidden you to leave the house and mother-”

“Isn’t my mother,” Arthur finished for her. “I don’t know why you think I care what that useless woman has to say to me.”

It wasn’t really anything Morgana hadn’t heard from him before, but the way she was looking at him, it felt like she was contemplating tearing him limb from limb.

Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose. “Look, I’m sorry. I know you’re still mad about before, though I don’t know why. It’s very clear our parents are on the brink of divorce. If it happens you get the better end of the deal anyway.”

Morgana rolled her eyes up to the ceiling.

“Who do you like better? Your father or your mother?” Gwaine suddenly asked. He was looking at Morgana.

Morgana sighed and picked up the pen on the table and drew aimless circles on the piece of paper. “I don’t know. I think they’re both barmy. If I had to live anywhere, I’d go with my sister. At least I have that option.” She looked pointedly at Arthur.

“What are you on about?” Arthur rolled his eyes. “You know you have father wrapped around your little finger.

“That’s not true and you know it. Perhaps he does care for me more than he does you.”

Arthur winced internally, but he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of the reaction she wanted.

“Even if that were true, it doesn’t really matter. I don’t think either of my parents truly cares for me.”

“Ha!”

For a second, Arthur wasn’t sure where the sound came from. But he saw Gwaine and Morgana look over at the gangly boy at the farthest table. Guess he wasn’t mute after all.

Arthur had no idea why he chose to insert himself at that particular moment, but he was grateful for even the slightest form of back-up. He caught the boy’s eyes briefly before he looked down at the table.

“Shut up!” Morgana cried.

Arthur rubbed two of his fingers together. “Allow me to play the world’s tiniest violin for you. You’re always such a drama queen.”

Gwaine walked over to him. “Hey, pratface!”

Arthur looked away. 

Gwaine stood in front of him. “You don’t get on with your dad?”

“As if I’d tell you anything.”

Gwaine stroked his chin. “You must feel pretty weak knowing your own father prefers the girl child over you. Does that make you feel a bit small?” His eyes lingered on Arthur’s crotch.

Arthur seethed silently and Gwaine walked away laughing.

When Arthur caught sight of Morgana trying to cover up a smile with her hand, he’d had enough. He marched over to Gwaine and pushed him.

Gwaine turned around and continued smiling.

“You know if we weren’t in school right now, I’d take you apart,” Arthur threatened.

Gwaine chuckled. “Is that a sexual invitation? Because while I might be gagging for it, I’m not quite that desperate.”

Arthur growled and stepped forward, but before he could do anything, the younger boy stepped in between them.

“Hey, you two, I understand your frustration. My parents can be…” He gestured to his head. “I don’t get along them always. They’re just... bad sometimes.”

Arthur appreciated his efforts to keep the peace, but he was in no mood to listen to him ramble. He pushed him aside and walked away to cool down.

He stood over by the mute, well obviously not mute, boy and stared at him. The boy’s back stiffened a bit, but he didn’t look over at Arthur.

“Swot,” Gwaine addressed the younger boy.

“Yeah?”

“You are a parent’s wet dream, alright?”

“That’s part of the problem.”

Gwaine sighed deeply. “Look, I could see you getting your knickers in a twist about what they make you wear.” He curled up his lip as he looked at Mordred’s ratty green sweater, jeans, and blue and yellow trainers. “But, face it, you’re a neo-maxi-zoom-dweebie.” Gwaine smiled to himself over the insult, but he turned serious. “You’re a zygote. What could you possibly have to complain about?”

Arthur sighed. “Why do you have to insult everybody? He’s not a zygote. He’s a person. He has a name.”

The other boy smiled at Arthur.

“What’s your name?” Arthur asked.

“Mordred.”

“My condolences.” Gwaine said with a mixture of disgust and condescension.

Seemingly done with the conversation, Gwaine sauntered back over to Morgana. Arthur briefly wondered if they would do any more disgusting flirting.

“What’s your name?”

Morgana slowly looked up at him. “It’s Morgana.”

To her surprise - and Arthur’s - he just smiled at that. “That’s lovely.”

“Thank you,” Morgana said with some trepidation in her voice.

His eyes traveled over her body. “Do you swim?”

“Sometimes.” Morgana sat back in her seat. She seemed half intrigued, but still wary.

“You have a great body.”

Arthur gagged.

“But it won’t last.”

There it was. Arthur didn’t understand. Gwaine and Morgana seemed to be getting along slightly. Why couldn’t he just let it be?

“As if you can you see into the future,” Morgana responded.

“Oh, but I can.” Gwaine nodded slowly. “Girls like you peak in school and then you’ll just become somebody’s wife and you’ll be up the duff and once squeeze out that first brat…” He made a sound and gestured with his hands sometime inflating.

Morgana flipped him the bird.

Gwaine laughed. “Obscene finger gestures from such a pristine girl.”

Morgana laughed right back. “If you think I’m pristine, you don’t know me as well as you think you do.”

Gwaine leaned on the table. “Are you a virgin?”

Morgana didn’t say anything.

Gwaine licked his lips. “I’ll bet you a million pounds that you are.”

“That is none of your goddamn business!”

“Oh, now here comes the harsh language. Do you have something to hide?” Gwaine bit his lip. “Have you ever snogged with a bloke? Have you ever been felt up?”

Morgana visibly tensed up and Arthur slowly walked over there. She said she didn’t need Arthur playing hero, but it looked like she might need help now.

“Has someone - bird, bloke, whoever - touched your breasts and then their hand slowly inches down, down, down and you’re practically writhing there, praying to God that your parents don’t walk in.”

“You’re being disgusting.” There was a hitch in Morgana’s voice.

“Now there’s no bra. You’re feeling sensations you’ve never felt before. You’re so wet their hand slips…”

“Leave her alone.” 

Gwaine ignored Arthur and continued to stare into Morgana’s eyes.

Arthur stalked closer. “I said leave her alone.”

Gwaine finally looked up at him. “Are you going to make me?”

“Absolutely.”

Gwaine stepped up on Morgana’s table and over a couple of chairs and was soon standing right in Arthur’s face. “You and how many of your mates.”

“Just me. Just you and me. Two hits. Me hitting you and you hitting the ground.” Arthur explained matter-of-factly.

Gwaine scoffed. He pretended to turn away and then lifted his hand to try and backhand Arthur.

Arthur was too quick for him. He grabbed Gwaine by the wrist and pulled arm behind his back. He took ahold of Gwaine’s other arms and managed to wrestle him to the ground. Surprisingly, Gwaine barely struggled once he was down.

Gwaine panted. “I’d let me go right now, if I were you.”

“And why is that?” But Arthur did get up and released Gwaine.

Gwaine got up easily and flipped his hair back. “Because I’d kill you.”

Arthur just stared at him as Gwaine started to move closer to him. He didn’t flinch.

Gwaine backed away. “I’d kill you and your naffing parents would probably sue and I don’t care enough about you to bother.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “You’re just a coward.” He started to walk back to his and Morgana’s table when he heard a sound he’d only ever heard in movies before - the sound of a switchblade.

He turned around and Gwaine was brandishing it menacingly.

Arthur didn’t react. He wasn’t scared. He’d face someone far more terrifying than Gwaine could ever hope to be. 

Gwaine stuck the blade in a nearby chair.

Arthur was done with this. “Alright, no more games. You don’t talk to her. You don’t look at her. You don’t even think about her! Are we clear?!”

Gwaine blinked at him. “I’m just trying to help her.”

Arthur blew out a breath and turned around. He and Morgana shared a look. She smiled slightly. It wasn’t exactly a thank you, but Arthur hadn’t been expecting even that.

~*~

Merlin wasn’t sure if Gwaine had actually heeded Arthur’s warning or he was just silently gearing up to retaliate, but he’d barely said anything since. It had been relatively quiet for a while, until he suddenly started whistling.

After so much quiet, the noise was actually welcome. The others joined in. Merlin would have as well, but he didn’t recognize whatever they were humming, and he’d never been able to whistle very well.

The whistling quickly stopped when Mr. Pendragon came back in. He gave them his usual look of quiet loathing - especially Gwaine. “Alright, that’s 30 minutes for lunch.”

“In here?” Arthur said in surprise.

“Yes.”

“Well, I think the cafeteria would be a much more suitable place for us to eat lunch in, sir,” Arthur pronounced.

“Well, I don’t really care what you think, Arthur,” Uther snarled.

“Uh, Uther!” Gwaine yelled. 

Uther stared daggers at him.

Gwaine held up his hand. “Excuse me, Mr. Pendragon. Will milk be made available to us?”

“I think we’re all very thirsty,” Arthur added.

“I have a really low tolerance for dehydration,” Morgana explained.

“I’ve seen her dehydrate, sir. It’s not pretty.” Arthur cringed.

Uther exhaled slowly. “Very well.”

“I’ll get it.” Gwaine started to get up. 

“Have you gone mad - or do you think I have? I’m not going to have you roaming these halls.” Uther looked over all them. He pointed to Arthur. “You and....” He examined the room again. “You!”

Merlin was only half paying attention and hadn’t realized he had pointed at him, until Uther started snapping his fingers. 

“What’s his name? Wake him up! Come on, boy! On your feet. This isn’t your bedroom!”

Merlin picked up his bag. He wasn’t even sure what he was supposed to be doing. He got nervous when he saw Arthur standing up, too.

“There’s a soft drink machine in the teacher’s lounge,” Uther announced. “Let’s go.”

Merlin gulped and tried to walk as slowly as possible behind Arthur, but Uther pushed him to walk faster before he left them to go back to his office.

Arthur looked back at him a couple of times. This was the first time Merlin had ever been alone with Arthur and he tried to figure out how to just be a cool and not act like the freak he was.

“Do you have a name?” Arthur asked suddenly.

Merlin couldn’t believe it. For a second, he just stared at Arthur. He’d forgotten his own name.

Arthur faced forward. “Okay.”

“It’s Merlin.” He suddenly blurted out.

Arthur looked at him again. There was a cute crinkle in the middle of his forehead.

“My name,” Merlin practically whispered.

“Ah,” Arthur nodded. “So, Merlin, what’s your poison?”

Merlin stared in confusion. 

“What do you drink?”

Merlin blew the fringe that covered his forehead out of his eyes. He desperately wanted to not say something stupid. He could answer truthfully and say something boring, but he couldn’t help lying. It was a bad habit. “Vodka.”

“Vodka?” Arthur sounded skeptical. “When do you drink vodka?”

“Whenever.” If he was going to lie, he might as well commit to it.

“Do you drink it a lot?”

“Tons.” Merlin was starting to be a little too comfortable with the lie.

“Do your parents know? Is that why you’re here?”

Merlin stiffened at the question.

“Why are you here?” Arthur repeated.

“Why are you here?”

Arthur sighed and moved back and leaned against the white brick wall. “I’m here mostly because my father wants to teach me a lesson. He could have gotten me out of this, he’s that powerful, but he thinks this will be good for. He thinks I need to be tougher.” Arthur’s shoulders slumped. “Whatever I do, I’m never good enough.”

Merlin examined Arthur’s face. He knew that Arthur was in pain. In a weird way it was something that attracted him about Arthur - someone who seemingly had it all, could look so broken and lost - just like Merlin. But Merlin wasn’t quite buying what Arthur was saying. 

“That’s very sad. But, perhaps, you can tell me the real story.” He tried to say it as gently as possible.

But Arthur’s head whipped up and his face hardened. “Just forget it.”

Arthur trudged off. Merlin closed his eyes and sighed. Well, he might have blown the only opportunity he’d ever have to be alone with Arthur DuBois.

~*~

Arthur was still stewing a bit about his conversation with Merlin as he took out his lunch. He briefly looked over at Merlin, who was hunched over his bag and rummaging through it.

Since Arthur had a match coming up, he had to make sure to continue to bulk up. His father made sure he had an abnormally hearty lunch. He had practically a gallon of fish and chips and a loaded burger.

Morgana was used to it and barely looked over at him. Gwaine on the other hand - who for some reason was sitting in between him and Morgana - looked at him as if he was some pig, as if he had room to judge.

“What?” Arthur finally shot back.

Gwaine held up his hands. “Nothing.” He picked up one of the fizzy drinks and almost without looking threw it over to Merlin.

Merlin caught it. Arthur watched him and saw he was reading some album cover. He was definitely a strange bloke.

“What’s that?” Gwaine asked Morgana as she pulled a black box.

“Guess?” Morgana looked over at the blank space in front of him. “Where’s your lunch?”

“You’re wearing it,” Gwaine said with a suggestive leer.

Morgana groaned. “You’re nauseating.” She uncovered the black box.

Gwaine crinkled his nose. “What is that?”

“Sushi.”

“Sushi?”

Morgana laughed. “Rice, raw fish, and seaweed.”

Gwaine looked like he would be sick to his stomach. “You won’t accept a guy’s tongue in your mouth, but you’re going to eat that?”

Arthur almost choked on his chips.

“Can I eat?” Morgana said icily.

“I don’t know. Give it a try.” Gwaine backed away.

All of a sudden they heard loud crunching. They all swiveled around and saw Merlin putting together some kind weird concoction. It was some kind of cereal between two slices of bread. Merlin was in the process of crushing it down, seemingly so it wasn’t too big to fit in his mouth.

He saw everyone watching him, but still picked it up and crunched happily away.

It wasn’t definitely another mark in the column of weird for Merlin, but Arthur kind of liked it. He sometimes wished he could throw caution to the wind and eat whatever he wanted and do whatever he wanted.

Gwaine took a seat next to Mordred and grabbed his lunch bag. “What are we having?”

“I think just a standard lunch?” Mordred stammered.

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Gwaine started emptying out the bag. He pulled out a something wrapped in tinfoil. The square shape indicated a sandwich.

“A ham and cheese sandwich,” Mordred supplied.

Gwaine then pulled out a thermos. 

“Some tea.”

Then Gwaine took out another small container. 

“Salad.”

Gwaine looked at the food sitting before him. “You’re right. Such a neat and nutritious lunch. How very boring.”

Mordred twisted his hands together and looked red-faced.

Arthur felt bad for the kid. 

“I’m guessing you must have just the most perfect family. ‘Oh, I love you more, sweetheart. No, I love you more,’ Gwaine said in an exaggerated syrupy voice. “I might just fall into a diabetic coma, but not from the food of course.”

Mordred sunk his head down lower and lower the more Gwaine teased him.

Arthur put down his burger. “Who are you to judge? What’s your family like?”

“Mine?” Gwaine gestured to himself.

Arthur nodded. 

“Very simple.” Gwaine got up. “This is what a conversation with my stepfather is like.” He sneered and his face seemed to change. “‘Stupid, cheeky, worthless, pathetic, big mouth, goddamned filthy nonce!’ And my mother, being so helpful will add, ‘You forgot ugly, lazy, and disrespectful.’ Bender suddenly reared his hand back and pretended to slap someone. His voice deepened. “‘Shut up, bint! Go and get me more ale!’” Gwaine’s voice returned to normal. “What about you, Dad?” He switched again. “‘Fuck you!’” His voice started to shake. “‘No, dad, what about you?” Gwaine screamed, “‘Fuck you!’” He motioned punching someone and whipped his head back.

Everyone sat in an uncomfortable silence.

“Is that real?” Mordred asked in a small, shaky voice.

Gwaine glared at him. “Why don’t you come over some time.”

“That’s rubbish!” 

Morgana’s mouth fell open as she stared at Arthur.

Arthur shrugged. He didn’t feel sorry for being skeptical. “It’s all part of his act. I don’t believe a word of it.”

“You don’t believe me?”

“No.”

“No?”

“Did I stutter?” Arthur answered back calmly.

Gwaine walked over to him and lifted up the right sleeve of his white sweater. 

Arthur flinched at the ugly, circular burn mark on his forearm.

“Do you believe this? Huh? It’s about the size of a cigar. Do I stutter?” He said right in Arthur’s ear.

Arthur recoiled.

Gwaine stood up. “You see this is what you get at my house for forgetting to empty the garbage bin.” He started to back away. “I’m not going to waste the rest of my day sitting with you fucking stupid buggers!” He marched off. 

He screamed as he large books off of one of the back tables. He jumped atop it to get to the grey staircase leading up to the upper level of the library. He sat down on the stairs.

Arthur felt like pond scum.

“You shouldn’t have said that,” Morgana said.

“How was I to know?” Arthur tried to defend himself. “He lies about everything.” 

He knew it was a hollow excuse.

~*~

After fifteen minutes, Arthur slowly made his way to the stairs and approached Gwaine. 

“Look, I’m sorry. I had no idea what was happening. I shouldn’t have shot my mouth off.”

Gwaine waved his hand. “Don’t turn into a big girl, princess.” He stood up. “ _But_ I think I know a way you can make it up to me…”

Arthur instantly looked wary.

Merlin was proud of Arthur. He understood why he was skeptical of Gwaine’s initial claims, but he had clearly made the situation worse, and it was big of him to accept blame and apologize to someone who had made it his mission to make his day so miserable.

Arthur and Gwaine stood in front of the group. Arthur did not look happy. “We have to take a little trip.”

Gwaine grinned widely beside him.

As they made their way through the halls, Merlin couldn’t believe, no matter what happened between them, that Gwaine had so easily convinced Arthur to take such a risk. But, then again, Arthur wouldn’t be here in Saturday detention if he wasn’t susceptible to some rule breaking now and again.

“How do you know where Mr. Pendragon went?” Morgana asked Gwaine.

“I don’t know.”

“Well then, how do you know when he’ll be back?”

“I don’t know.” Gwaine grinned at her. “Being bad feels pretty good, doesn’t it?”

Morgana just shook her head and chuckled.

Inspired by Arthur’s apology to Gwaine, Merlin decided he owed Arthur one of his own. He walked beside Arthur, who seemed to be on red alert for a reappearance of Uther, and tried to come up with an opening line.

He rubbed his hands together and blew out a long breath. 

Arthur looked at him. He seemed to sense something and paused. “What is it?”

“I just, uh...I sort of wanted to apologize for before?”

“You sort of want to apologize or you do want to apologize?” Arthur smiled.

Merlin opened his mouth, but stopped and laughed. “I do want to apologize. I shouldn’t have tried to make you tell me why you’re here. It’s none of my business.”

Arthur started walking again and Merlin followed. “You were right, though. I was lying.”

Merlin looked down at the floor. “Even so, you don’t know me so you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”

Arthur looked at Merlin. “I do want to.”

Merlin started to smile, but Arthur looked away when a loud sound rang out - it sounded like a sharp knife.

Gwaine, Mordred, and Morgana were gathered around Gwaine’s locker. When Arthur and Merlin got there, they saw that there was some kind of guillotine in his locker. That seemed a bit excessive.

Gwaine reached into his locker and pulled out a brown paper bag. He reached in and pulled out another smaller paper bag and then another after that.

“Good Lord is all of that really necessary?” Arthur rolled his eyes.

“Yes,” Gwaine said simply. Out of the last bag he pulled out a plastic bag which clearly contained marijuana.

“Drugs!” Mordred exclaimed.

“Sod that, Gwaine!” Arthur said as he crowded him. “Put it back right now.”

Gwaine just raised his eyebrow and backed away with a grin.

“Do you approve of this?” Mordred directed at Arthur.

Arthur just shook his head and sighed. He followed behind Gwaine.

Mordred continued to gape at Morgana and Merlin. But, he left soon after Morgana did.

Gwaine didn’t bother to close his locker and Merlin took advantage and took the lock and stuffed it into his bag.

They all walked back to the library. 

“We’ll cross through the lab and then we’ll double back,” Gwaine explained.

“You better be right, if Pendragon cuts us off, it’s your arse!” Arthur said.

As they got closer to the library, Gwaine spotted Uther and froze. Morgana and Mordred collided behind him. When they saw Uther too they took off in the opposite direction.

Merlin leaned back against one of the walls as the others ran past. It was kind of liberating knowing that he didn’t really care what happened if he got caught. But when Arthur looked behind him and mouthed “what are you doing?” Merlin followed the others.

The floors must have been more slippery than they imagined. When they spotted Uther again and tried to stop, all of sudden they all slipped simultaneously.

After a minute, they finally stopped to figure out what to do. 

“We need to cut through the cafeteria.” Gwaine panted.

Arthur shook his head. “No, the lecture hall.”

“You don’t know what the bloody hell you’re talking about.”

Arthur balled his fist and looked like he was down with all of this. “This is your fucking fault in the first place. We’re through listening to you. You can go wherever you want, pillock!”

Arthur took off. Morgana and Mordred followed him easily. For once, Gwaine looked at a loss of what to say. Merlin could tell Gwaine really believed they were doing the wrong thing, but Merlin chose to believe in Arthur. 

“Come on, Gwaine!”

Gwaine blew out a breath and they ran off together.

Unfortunately, it turned out for once they should have listened to Gwaine. They ran into a locked iron gate at the end of one hall.

“Bloody hell!” Arthur shouted.

“Great idea, you numpty!” Gwaine shouted at Arthur.

“Fuck you!”

“Fuck you!” Morgana smacked Arthur’s shoulder. “We should have listened to Gwaine!”

“We’re dead!” Mordred looked completely green.

Gwaine looked around at all of them. “No, just me!”

The four of them watched Gwaine in confusion when he suddenly thrust the plastic bag down Mordred’s trousers.

“Keep your head on!” Gwaine then took off in the opposite direction singing “The Eye of the Tiger” at the top of his lungs.

They all waited until they couldn’t hear Gwaine anymore and then took off for the library.

~*~

They all huddled around after they got back to the library. No one seemed sure of what to do. 

“I know this is going to sound odd, but I’m worried about Gwaine,” Morgana volunteered.

Arthur slowly nodded. He was just as surprised as her. Gwaine was still an arsehole, but he did sacrifice himself for their benefit. Perhaps he wasn’t a total lost cause.

They heard loud footsteps outside the library and quickly got back to their seats. 

When Uther opened the door, he pushed Gwaine inside. “Get your things, let’s go!”

Gwaine trudged forward. He slowly made his way to his table. He snuck a look at a Mordred, who might as well of had written on his forehead “I have spliff down my pants” with the way he kept looking between Uther and Gwaine with wide eyes.

“Mr. Bender has taken it upon himself to act as if the rules don’t apply to him, so you will be without his company for the rest of the day,” Uther said.

“B-o-o-h-o-o!” Gwaine mocked him.

Uther bared his teeth. “Everything is a joke to you, isn’t it? The false alarm you pulled, Friday, false alarms are funny, are they? You wouldn’t think it was so funny if you ever had to deal with any great loss. What if your home, what if your family…” Uther smiled darkly. “What if your drugs were on fire?”

“Impossible, sir, it’s in Johnson’s underwear.”

Arthur couldn’t hold back a slight chuckle.

Uther turned on him quickly. “You think he’s so funny. You think he’s the bee’s knees?” Uther pointed at Gwaine. “He’s a stupid bastard. You go visit Gwaine Bender in five years and tell me how funny, he is.”

Gwaine wasn’t smiling anymore and stared Uther down.

Uther leaned over him. “What’s the matter, Gwaine? Are you going to cry?” He snorted. “Let’s go.” He went to grab Gwaine’s arm, but Gwaine ripped his arm away.

“Get your fucking hands off me!” Gwaine stood up. “I would expect better manners from you, Uthie.” He sauntered off looking pleased as punch.

Uther looked ready to tear his head off.

After they left, they didn’t say anything for a while. No one even glanced at the paper on the table or seemed to think about the paper they were supposed to be writing.

Arthur stretched and glanced over his shoulder. He caught Merlin staring at him. When he knew he was caught, Merlin looked away immediately.

Arthur stood up and made his way over to him. Merlin pretended to find his table fascinating.

Arthur rubbed the back of his neck. “Is there something you wanted to say to me...to ask me?”

“Uh…” Merlin cleared his throat repeatedly. “Nothing.” He got up and scurried away.

Arthur stood there confused for a moment before turning back and heading over to his table. Morgana was watching him.

He sat down and looked over at her. “What do you think of him?” Arthur gestured with his head behind him.

Morgana shrugged. “A bit of a nerd. Very young.”

Arthur looked over at Mordred and then back to his sister. “Not Mordred.” He scanned the room and spotted Merlin by the stairs. He discreetly pointed at him. “I was talking about him.”

“Merlin?” Morgana pointed at him openly.

Arthur pushed her hand down and Morgana swatted him. “Yes, him.”

Morgana pursed her lips. “The only thing I can say about him is he’s very weird.”

Arthur gazed over at him and a small smile spread over his face. “Yes.”

“Blimey!” Morgana watched Arthur.

Arthur finally turned to her and was surprised at the look on her face. Her eyes were round, but she was grinning. “What?”

“Are you smitten with him?”

Arthur opened his mouth, but could only manage to sputter. “That-that’s…”

Morgana leaned forward and put her hand on his arm. “It’s alright if you are.”

Arthur ran his teeth over his lower lip and blinked down at the table. “It’s not...you know I can’t be. Father barely lets me date anyone, you think he’d let me date someone so strange...oh who happens to be a bloke.” Arthur shook his head. “It’s absolutely crazy.”

Suddenly they heard a scream and a loud crash. Morgana and he shared a look. Their mouths dropped when Gwaine walked down the stairs and sauntered over to the room as if nothing happened.

He dusted something off his trousers and shrugged his shoulders. “What? I forgot my pencil.”

“Jesus Christ, Almighty!” Uther screeched behind the door.

Gwaine ran towards Arthur and Morgana’s table and dove underneath.

Uther strode into the room. “What in God’s name is going on in here? What was that ruckus?”

Arthur gulped. “Uh, what ruckus?”

Uther looked at him as if he’d gone mental. “I was in my office and I most certainly heard a ruckus.”

“Could you describe the ruckus, sir?” Mordred asked.

Arthur almost choked trying to hold back a laugh. He didn’t know Mordred had it in him.

Uther pointed at him. “Watch your tongue young man, watch it!”

There was a loud noise from under Arthur and Morgana’s table. Gwaine must have hit his head. Arthur tried to cover by drumming against the table with his hands. Morgana joined in.

Uther’s eyes bulged as he looked down at the table. “What is that? What is that noise?”

“What noise?” Arthur said.

“Really, sir, there wasn’t any noise....” Morgana trailed off. Her mouth fell open.

Arthur had no idea what was wrong with her.

All of a sudden she started coughing. The others joined in. 

Morgana stopped. “Was that it? Was that the noise you were talking about?”

Uther’s eyes narrowed. “No, that was not the noise. Now, I may not have caught you in the act this time, but you can bet I will.”

Merlin snickered loudly.

Uther’s nostrils flared and he pointed at him. “Don’t you underestimate me, young man!” He turned to Morgana. “I will not be made a fool of!”

He turned around and they caught sight of a toilet seat cover sticking out of Uther’s trousers.

Mordred, Arthur, and Merlin started laughing as soon as he left.

Gwaine got out from under that table and Morgana started pummeling him on his back. “You perverted wanker!”

Gwaine winced. “It was an accident!”

“Accident my arse!”

Gwaine just smirked and stood up. He walked over to Mordred. “So Ahab...Kybo mein spliff?”

Mordred blushed as he reached inside his trousers and produced the drugs. Gwaine took it and held it with two fingers.

He headed over to a small room in the back.

“Hey, Bob Marley, you’re not going to light up in here.”

Gwaine chuckled and looked over his shoulder, but he continued to walk forward.

Morgana glanced at Arthur. He could already tell what was going on in her head. Arthur just shook his head.

Still, after a minute Morgana stood up and followed Gwaine into the room.

Arthur rubbed at his eyes. When he turned, he was shocked that instead of looking scandalized, Mordred looked as if he was ready to join them. Arthur’s eyes bugged out. 

Soon enough Mordred stood up, and after zipping up went into the room, which was already filling with smoke.

Now, that it was just him and Merlin, Arthur’s resistance was starting to waver. He was tired of constantly being controlled by his father and trying to live up to his standards. Perhaps if he cut loose every once and awhile, what landed him in detention wouldn’t have happened.

Merlin’s eyes were screaming at him not to go, but Arthur sighed and mouthed “sorry” and followed the others.

~*~

Sometimes there were advantages to not having friends, Merlin thought. He’d always been very good at following his own path and not letting anyone sway him. It’s one of the reasons people looked at him as abnormal, but it was one of the things about being who he was, that he liked.

Despite everyone else partaking in Gwaine’s drugs, Merlin had abstained. Even though he had, he didn’t really judge the others for giving in. They were allowed to have their fun.

Mordred looked like a different person now. He was so relaxed. It was clearly the first time he’d done any drugs and he was loose and far chattier than before.

Mordred looked at the joint in his hand. “I’ve always wanted to try this, but my mum always said it would rot my brain.” He snorted and then looked up at Morgana and Gwaine. “She was absolutely right and I don’t care.”

Gwaine and Morgana laughed.

“Do you realize that I am the smartest person here and that includes Pendragon?” Mordred giggled. “I’m especially smarter than him. I’m thirteen and I’ll be ready to take my A-Levels at the end of the year...if all goes well.” He smiled, but then frowned. “I’m finally going to living up to my father’s legacy. And it’s great...it is...except I just want to be a kid. I want to do this.” Mordred gestured wildly all around them. He slumped back against the seat. “Why can’t I?”

Gwaine hit him in the arm. “You are doing it. You know for a genius, you’re not very bright.”

Mordred laughed.

Merlin felt a lot of sympathy for Mordred. It must be really hard to have a father who was seen as a genius and have to live up to that reputation. 

When Merlin looked around the room, he realized that most of them had lost a parent or two. Morgana was the only one who still truly had both. Maybe that was why he bristled so hard when she was complaining about them earlier. It wasn’t just because she was being mean to Arthur.

A part of Merlin resented her for not appreciating what she had, which he knew was being a bit unfair.

Gwaine turned to Morgana. 

She bit her lip and smiled. “Do you realize you’re getting high with the most popular girl in school?”

“I did not know that.”

“Well, now you do. You should be honored.”

Gwaine got up and did a mock bow. “Milady.”

Morgana laughed, and then snorted, which made her laugh harder.

Merlin was amazed. It was like they were different people.

And then there was Arthur. He was still in the other room enjoying his blow on his own. When he suddenly burst out of there, he had the most beautiful and bright smile on his face. He actually started dancing around the room. 

While Merlin would have preferred he do this without the assistance of drugs, Merlin was happy that Arthur was finally letting go.

Even though he was fine with his decision not to do the blow, as he watched everyone separate into their different corners he was starting to feel left out again. He had just been starting to feel like they were coming together as a group.

Arthur and Mordred were now sitting together and laughing, as Merlin watched from the corner.

“What’s your birthday?” Arthur asked Mordred.

Before Mordred could answer, Merlin interrupted. “His birthday is November 4, 1970. His middle name is Geoffrey. You’re 5’9” and a half and you weigh 9.286 stones.”

Both Mordred and Arthur look stunned. Mordred scooted forward on his seat. “How the hell do you know all that?”

Merlin smiled and pulled a black thin wallet out of his pocket. “I stole your wallet!”

For the first time that day, Mordred looked pissed. He reached over and snatched it out of Merlin’s hands. “That’s brilliant. You’re a thief now?”

“I’m not a thief!” Merlin said with some heat. “Besides what is there to steal. Three pounds and a naked bird.”

Arthur sat up. “Really?”

Merlin nodded. “You should have seen it. It was perverted.”

Arthur grinned. “Alright, let’s see it!”

Merlin rolled his eyes and turned away. 

Gwaine and Morgana were sitting not far from them. Morgana was going through Gwaine’s wallet and he was looking through her bag.

“Are all of these your girlfriends?”

Gwaine didn’t look up. “Some of them.”

“What about the others?”

“Some I consider my girlfriends and some I just consider.”

Morgana wrinkled her nose. “Consider what?”

Gwaine sighed. “Whether or not I want to hang with them.”

Morgana glanced at him briefly, before perusing the pictures again. “You don’t believe in a committed relationship?”

“Do you?”

Morgana pondered this for a short time and then nodded. “Yeah. It’s what I want.”

“Well, I don’t.”

“Ever?”

Gwaine threw her bag down. “Why do you have so much shit in your bag?”

“Why do you have so many girlfriends?

“I asked you first.”

Morgana bit her lip. “I suppose I just never throw anything away.”

Gwaine looked up with a triumphant grin. “Neither do I.”

“Oh.” Morgana rolled her eyes. 

When Merlin looked back at Arthur and Mordred they were still going over the contents in his wallet.

“This is the worst fake ID I’ve ever seen,” Arthur teased.

Mordred grinned. “I know. I bollocksed it up.”

Merlin wrung his hands. “Do you want to see what’s in my bag?”

“No!” Arthur and Mordred answered simultaneously.

Merlin was miffed. Did they think he had cooties or something? In retaliation he upturned his bag and let the entire contents spill onto the couch.

Arthur stared at him, while Mordred carefully picked at the mountain of stuff that tumbled out of his bag. There was an extra shirt or two, multiple pairs of underwear, socks, a comb, books, etc.

Mordred glanced up at him and seemed confused and a bit worried. “Do you always carry this much shit in your bag?”

Merlin grinned. “Yep. I always carry this much shit in my bag.” He swallowed thickly. “You never know when you might have to do a runner.”

Arthur bit his lip and the way he was staring at him was a bit unnerving. Merlin really felt exposed like this. He was starting to second guess why he did this.

“Are you going to turn into one of those bums on the street? Are you going to start talking to buildings and collecting cats?” Mordred asked.

“I’ll do what I have to do.”

Mordred sighed. “But why do you have to do anything?”

“My home life is...unsatisfying,” Merlin said as his voice cracked.

“So you’re saying you would put yourself in harm’s way by living on the streets because your home life is “unsatisfying?”

Merlin was starting to get agitated. Mordred clearly didn’t get it and Arthur had said nothing for some reason. He gulped. “I don’t have to run away and live in the street. I can go anywhere. I can go to the mountains. I could go to the ocean. I could go to...Israel, Japan...America.”

Mordred leaned back and looked to Arthur. “What do you think, Artie? Merlin says he wants to bugger off to the streets because his home life is unsatisfying.”

Arthur clasped his hands together and sighed. “Well...everyone’s home lives are unsatisfying. If it wasn’t people would live with their parents forever.”

Merlin knew he might be getting melodramatic, but he honestly felt Arthur’s words couldn’t hurt worse than if he’d reached into Merlin’s chest and squeezed his heart. 

Even though he didn’t really know Arthur, Merlin felt like they could be kindred spirits. If anyone could understand his desire to leave his home behind it would be him, but clearly he was wrong.

“Never mind. Forget it. Everything’s fine.” Merlin quickly gathered his things and started stuffing them back in his bag.

Arthur stretched forward and put his hand on his bag. “What’s wrong?”

Merlin shook his head violently. “It’s too late. Just forget it. Leave me alone.”

“Wait. Now either you’re carrying around all of that rubbish in your bag because you actually want to run away or you just want people to think you want to run away.” His voice softened. “Which is it?”

Merlin gritted his teeth and stared at him. “Fuck. Off!” He strode away quickly and leaned against a thin bookshelf.

He heard soft footsteps behind him, but didn’t glance up.

“Hi.” Arthur practically whispered. “Do you want to talk?”

Merlin hated the tears in his eyes and didn’t want to let Arthur see how much he was hurting, but he looked up at him. “No!”

“Why not?”

“Go away!”

“I don’t want to.”

“Go away!” Merlin said louder.

Arthur looked truly conflicted, but soon turned around and slowly started to walk back.

Something snapped inside of Merlin. He straightened up. “You have problems!”

Arthur whirled around. “Oh, _I_ have problems?”

“You do everything everybody ever tells you to do. That is a problem.”

Arthur stalked towards him. “Maybe so...but I didn’t dump my bag on the couch and invite everybody into my problems, did I?”

Merlin slumped down. He couldn’t really argue that.

“So what’s wrong? What is it? Is it bad?” Arthur stepped closer. “Really bad? Your family?”

Merlin didn’t say anything, but gave a look that confirmed that Arthur was right. 

Arthur looked at the ground. 

Merlin could practically feel the pain radiating from Arthur now.

“What do they do to you?” 

“They ignore me.”

“Yeah.” Arthur looked as sad as Merlin felt. He nodded. “Yeah.”

They took a seat at a table further away from the others.

Merlin wiped at his eyes.

Arthur had a gentle look in his eyes as he watched Merlin. He waited for him to speak.

“My parents were wonderful. They were amazing, but they died when I was nine.” He bit his lip. “Car accident. The only family I had was my aunt Nimueh. She took me into her home, but she’s never really cared for me. She thinks I’m a freak.” Merlin rubbed his forehead. “I suppose I could have it a lot worse. I could have a stepfather like Gwaine’s.”

Arthur nodded. “I suppose when you look at it like that, you have to consider yourself lucky.” Arthur smoothed his hands over the table and looked anything but lucky.

Merlin hesitated, but leaned forward and put his hand over Arthur’s. “What’s it like at your home?”

Before he could answer Morgana and Gwaine swanned over. They looked weirdly giddy.

“We’ve decided we should play a little game.” Morgana informed them.

Arthur and Merlin shared a look, but didn’t say anything against the idea. Merlin supposed it could be fun.

~*~

They sat in an empty corner of the library. They were all in a circle. There was no real game that Morgana and Gwaine decided on. It wasn’t exactly Truth or Dare, but close to it. They would each have to ask each other a question and the person asked had to answer as truthfully as possible.

Morgana of course decided to start by needling Arthur. 

"So...what would you do to get a million pounds?"

Arthur let out a short burst of laughter. He wasn't laughing at the question. The laugh was more a reaction to how quickly it seemed the day had taken a drastic turn. He could never have imagined that after how contentious things had been they’d be sitting around asking ridiculous questions.

Morgana kicked Arthur's leg. "Are you going to answer the question?"

Arthur kicked her back. "It's a ridiculous question!" He wondered if she was still a little high.

"It is not ridiculous!" Morgana practically pouted.

"I don't know how to answer that. You should try being a little more specific," Arthur offered.

Morgana rolled her eyes. "Fine." She looked toward the ceiling as she pondered it. Finally, she turned to Arthur with a wide grin. "Would you drive to school naked?"

Arthur sputtered and squirmed. He quickly glanced over at Merlin, whose expression remained neutral. He turned back to Morgana. "For a million pounds?"

Morgana nodded.

“Would I have to get out of the car?”

“Of course.”

“The front of the school or the back?”

“Either one.” Morgana quickly waved her hand. “No, I change my mind. The front.”

Arthur shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"I'd do that!" Merlin blurted out.

All eyes turned to him.

He sat up taller and seemed to puff out his chest. "I'd do anything sexual. I don't need a million pounds to do it either."

"That’s a lie," Morgana scoffed.

He hated to agree with his sister on anything, but Arthur didn't quite believe it, either. As much as Merlin seemed to stare at him and see right through him, Arthur had done his own staring into Merlin's blue eyes and was starting to believe he knew him. 

What Merlin was saying just didn't feel right. There was something that was too innocent for Arthur to believe he was as free sexually as he was claiming.

But Merlin seemed adamant. "I already have. I've done just about everything, except a few things that are illegal. I'm a sex addict."

Arthur's eyes bulged as he stared at Merlin.

"That's bollocks!" Morgana declared.

Mordred seemed to take Merlin at face value. "Are your parents aware of this?"

"The only person I told was my shrink," Merlin explained.

"And what did he do when you told him?" Arthur asked even though he was still having trouble believing this.

Merlin shrugged. "We shagged."

Arthur felt his stomach tighten and he looked away. That was wrong on so many levels.

"That's sickening!" Morgana spit out. “He’s an adult!”

Merlin picked at something on the carpet. "He's married, too."

Everyone's jaws dropped, even Gwaine seemed shocked and Arthur thought that was impossible.

"Do you have any idea how completely foul that is?" Morgana said as she held a hand against her stomach.

"The first few times..." Merlin started.

Morgana clutched at the carpet and bent forward. "The first few times?! You did it more than once?"

"Sure," Merlin answered far too easily for Arthur's liking.

"Are you mad?" Morgana asked incredulously.

Arthur wasn't sure why Morgana was acting so scandalized. She was not usually such a prude.

"Obviously he's a bit mad if he's shagging his shrink!" Mordred piped in.

Merlin cocked his head to the side and stared at Morgana. It was a look that Arthur was starting to know well. It was like he was examining Morgana and picking up all he could about her.

Merlin pursed his lips. "Have you ever done it?"

Morgana blinked and seemed to be frozen in place, but she quickly tried to cover with a smirk. "I don't even have a psychiatrist."

"Surprisingly," Arthur muttered.

Morgana shot him a murderous look.

Merlin was unfazed. "Have you ever had sex with a normal person?"

Morgana looked down at the floor. "Didn't we already go over this?"

Gwaine was now staring at her intently with a wicked grin. "You never answered the question."

Arthur could tell that his sister was really starting to get irritated. Her nostrils began to flare slightly and he could see her start to clench her fists.

"Look, I'm not about to discuss my private life with complete strangers and my brother."

"It's kind of a double-edged sword, isn't it?" Merlin said.

Morgana narrowed her eyes. "What are you prattling on about?"

"Well, if you say you haven't, you're a prude. If you say you have...you're a slut. It's a trap. You want to but you can't, and when you do you wish you didn't, right?"

Morgana shook her head. "Wrong."

Merlin leaned forward as he eyed Morgana. "Or are you a tease?"

"She's a tease," Gwaine said.

"Piss off the lot of you!" Morgana shot back.

Arthur sighed. "I prefer not to think about my sister's love life...but she's probably a tease. Aren't all girls teases?"

"She's only a tease if what she does gets you off," Gwaine said with a lewd leer.

Arthur shuddered at Gwaine's answer.

"I don't do anything!" Morgana practically screamed.

Merlin grinned. "That's why you're a tease."

Morgana growled. "That's not...okay let me ask you a few questions."

Merlin grinned. "But I already told you everything."

"No. Doesn't it bother you to sleep around with so many people, especially without being in love? Don't you want some respect?"

Merlin looked triumphant listening to Morgana's question. "I don't screw to get respect. That's the difference between you and me."

"Not the only difference I hope," Morgana gritted out.

"Face it, you're a tease." Gwaine crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"I'm _not_ a tease."

"Sure you are," Gwaine he said in his characteristically smug way. "Sex is your weapon. You use it to get respect."

Morgana's brow furrowed. "No...that's not what I said. He twisted my words around." She pointed at Merlin.

"What do you use it for then?" Gwaine asked.

"I don't use it period." Morgana put her head in her hands. She seemed at the end of her rope and Arthur felt a bit bad for her. He’d never seen her so flustered.

"Oh, are you medically frigid or is it just psychological?" Gwaine chuckled.

"You know bloody well I didn't mean it like that. You lot are putting words in my mouth!"

Mordred threw up his hands and entered into it. "Well, if you'd just answer the question."

"Yeah, just answer it," Gwaine agreed. “It’s not a big thing.”

Arthur finally decided to intercede. "Maybe we should just-"

"Just be honest."

"Yeah, answer it."

"It's not a big deal."

"Talk to us!"

"It's just one question."

Mordred and Gwaine kept pestering her and Arthur was sure Morgana was close to committing double homicide.

She finally threw her head back and glared at all of them. "No! I never did it!"

There was dead silence for a brief moment.

"I never did it, either."

It was another bombshell from Merlin and everyone looked shocked. Well, Morgana looked homicidal.

Arthur was embarrassed at the immense relief he felt.

"I'm not a sex addict. I'm a compulsive liar," Merlin continued.

"You fucking bastard!" Morgana cried. "You did that on purpose just to fuck me over."

Merlin looked down at the floor. "I would do it though. If you love someone, it's okay."

Arthur smiled. That felt more like the Merlin he felt he was starting to know.

"You're such a head case. You don't say anything all day and when you do, it's just so you can unload so many lies over all of us."

Arthur could see that Morgana was two seconds away from hurling herself across the room and strangling Merlin and he didn't think Merlin deserved that. "Look, you're just upset because he got you to admit something you didn't want to."

Morgana's mouth twisted. "Even so, it's still incredibly bizarre." She glowered at Merlin. “What’s wrong with you?”

Arthur looked over at Merlin. Something about what Morgana said had Merlin shrinking. He looked once again like that shy, quiet boy they first saw that morning. 

He knew his loyalty should probably be to his sister, but he wanted to reach out to Merlin and let him know there was nothing wrong with him.

Arthur shrugged. "So what? We're all bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all."

“Right.” Morgana put a hand on her hip. "And just how are you bizarre?" She seemed genuinely interested in the answer.

Arthur drew a blank.

"He can't think for himself," Merlin half teased.

Even though Merlin tried to be gentle about it, Arthur knew there was a lot of truth to it. "He's right."

Merlin was staring at him expectantly. Arthur had sworn he wouldn't admit what he did to get into detention, even Morgana didn't know. Their father had managed to keep his involvement under wraps. But the way Merlin was looking at him, Arthur felt safe and he really wanted Merlin, especially, to know what happened. He just hoped Merlin wouldn’t look at him differently after he found out.

Arthur swallowed. "Do you guys know what I did to get in here?"

Merlin's ears seemed to perk up.

"I taped Gilli Martin's arse cheeks together."

Gwaine snorted.

Merlin continued to watch him. There was no judgment in his eyes.

"That was you?" Mordred asked. 

“Yeah.” He looked over at Mordred. "You know him?"

Mordred just nodded.

Arthur sighed. He picked at a spot on his trousers. "Well, you know how hairy he is."

Gwaine laughed.

"Well, when they took the tape off, most of his hair came off and some-some skin, too."

"Oh, my God!" Morgana put her hand over her mouth.

Arthur bit his lip. He knew how horrifying it was. It was just supposed to be a harmless prank, but that was no excuse. "The most asinine part is that I did this for my father. I know he wants me to be just like him and he always talks about his mates and all of the fun things they did when they were my age. I tortured this poor sod because I wanted my father to think I was just like him."

Morgana shook her head. 

Arthur let out a long breath. "I was in the locker room taping up my knee and I spotted Gilli undressing a few lockers down. He's short and weak. He can’t even run a mile without almost keeling over. All of a sudden I kept thinking about my father's attitude about weakness. The next thing I knew I shot up and just started thrashing him. My mates just laughed and cheered me on.”

Arthur wanted to look up and see whatever Merlin might be thinking of him now, but he was too afraid - just more proof that he was the weak one.

“After it happened, I was sitting in Mr. Pendragon’s office and I just kept thinking about Gilli and his dad. Gilli going home and having to explain what happened. If his dad is anything like ours…” Arthur’s throat constricted and he had to swallow to continue. “The humiliation he must have felt. The fucking humiliation. It must have been unreal.” He ran his hand through his hair slowly. “I just...how do you even attempt to apologize after doing something like that? I don’t have the words…” He wrenched at his hair. “All because of my fucking father. God, I hate him! He’s like this mindless machine that I can’t relate to anymore. Though, in all honesty, I don’t think I’ve ever understood him and he doesn’t understand me. No matter how hard I try to please him it’s never good enough. ‘Arthur, if you’re not a winner, you’re nothing. And I will never tolerate a pathetic, nothing in my family. Do it again! Do it better! Win! Win! Win!’” He was openly crying and didn’t care. “You fucking tosser! Sometimes I wish that I could just stop trying, stop caring what he thinks of me and just...be.” He closed his eyes.

“Arthur, I…” Morgana started her voice was thick with emotion. “I know it doesn’t make sense, but I swear I didn’t know. I guess I never truly paid attention to how he was with you. I knew he was hard on you, but I thought it was a good thing. I thought it meant he respected you. I guess you don’t see the way he is with me, either.”

Arthur looked over at her.

“Yes, he’s nice to me and he buys me things, but he doesn’t respect me. He doesn’t listen.” Morgana took a deep breath. “He’s so different with both of us and yet we both ended up screwed.”

“I think your father and my father should get together for a swim, preferably somewhere far out in the middle of the ocean,” Gwaine said breaking a bit of the tension.

Both Arthur and Morgana snickered lightly.

Arthur wiped his eyes against his sleeve. When he braved looking at Merlin, he had tears shining in his eyes, but he smiled at Arthur. Somehow, in that moment, Arthur thought everything would be okay.

“It’s like with my grades.” Mordred chimed in. “I’m just...when I step outside myself and really look at myself, I don’t like what I see. I really don’t.”

“What’s wrong? Why don’t you like yourself?”

“This’ll sound stupid, especially considering what I said before about taking my A Levels at the end of the year, but I am failing one course. Once course that could ruin everything...shop. You see we had this assignment to make a ceramic elephant. We had eight weeks to do it. It was supposed to be a lamp and when you pull the trunk, the light is supposed to come on. But my light didn’t turn on. I got a U on it. I’ve never gotten a U in my life.” He sighed. “And when I took the course I thought it would so easy. I never thought this would mess things up.”

“Why’d you think it would be easy? Gwaine asked.

Mordred shrugged. “Have you seen some of the dopes that take that class?”

“I take shop,” Gwaine growled. “You must be a fucking idiot!”

Mordred groaned. “I'm a fucking idiot because I can't make a lamp?”

“No, you're a genius because you can't make a lamp.”

“What do you know about trigonometry?”

“I could care less about trigonometry.”

“Gwaine, did you know without trigonometry there'd be no engineering?” Mordred said.

“Without lamps, there'd be no light!” Gwaine shouted.

Morgana stepped in. “Alright, so neither one of you is better than the other.”

“I can write with my toes,” Merlin offered up suddenly. He smiled. “I can also eat, brush my teeth…”

“With your feet?” Morgana asked incredulously.

Merlin nodded. “I can also juggle.”

Arthur grinned. “That’s impressive.”

“I have many hidden talents.” Merlin smiled.

Arthur didn’t doubt that.

“I can make spaghetti,” Mordred added.

“What can you do?” Merlin asked with genuine curiosity to Arthur.

“I can tape all of your arses together,” Arthur said. He wondered if the joke was in poor taste, but when he heard Merlin laugh he didn’t have any worries.

Gwaine crossed his arms over his chest and looked over at Morgana. “I want to see what you can do?”

“Ugh...I don’t know.”

“Come now, Morgana everyone can do something.”

“I can do a lot of things, I just…” She pursed her lips. “There is this one fun thing I can do fairly well, but it’s a bit embarrassing.”

“It can’t be any more embarrassing than your brother’s lone talent being an ability to tape arses together.”

Arthur glared at Gwaine.

“Alright.” Morgana reached for her bag. “But, you have to swear to God you won’t laugh.”

Gwaine made the sign of the cross.

She took out a tube of lipstick and took the cap off and chuckled. “I can’t believe I’m actually doing this.” 

Morgana put the tube of lipsticks down the front of her bra. She put her head down to reach the tip and moved her head back and forth. Finally, she looked up and her top lip had a perfectly applied shade of red.

Everyone clapped, including Bender.

“I didn’t know you knew how to do that. Where’d you learn that?” Arthur asked.

“Vivian Westwood taught me when I was twelve.”

Gwaine’s was still clapping. It was very slow and the look on his face meant nothing good. “My mind if completely blown, Morgana. What a stunning display of talent.”

“Don’t do that to her. You swore to God you wouldn’t laugh.” Merlin said as he looked at Morgana sympathetically.

“Am I laughing?”

“You fucking prat!” Arthur cried. He wasn’t going to let Gwaine mock his sister just to amuse himself. It was like he couldn’t just be a normal human for more than an hour at a time.

“Are you fucking schizzo or something?” Morgana asked as she threw her lipstick into her bag. “We were starting to get along. I thought we were…”

“Friends?” Gwaine interrupted. 

“I didn’t say that, but I thought we’d moved past you trying to hurt us just out of spite.” 

“Look, when I get high I get mellow, but that’s over now.” Gwaine looked around the room and stared at Arthur. “Why do you even care what I think? I don’t even count, right? I could drop dead tomorrow and no one would remember I even existed. Isn’t that what you said?” He turned to Morgana. “And you’re not fooling me. You don’t give a toss about me.”

Morgana sneered. “I am not your punching bag, Gwaine! I have just as many feelings as you do and they hurt just as much when someone tramples all over them.”

“God, you are so pathetic!” Gwaine fumed. “Don’t you ever - _ever_ \- compare yourself to me? You’re a fucking rich princess. You have everything and I have _nothing_. School would probably fucking shut down if you didn’t show up. They would throw a parade if I didn’t. Rich bastards like you are why I have nothing.”

“What are you talking about?” Arthur asked.

“Just...nothing.” 

“It’s not nothing.” Arthur pressed on. “It’s clearly not nothing.”

“Fine. You want to know? My father was shot because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Because he worked for men like your father.”

Morgana slowly looked up at Gwaine. “I’m very sorry for what happened to your father. But that is not my fault! If you want to judge me, that’s fine. But not because of something I had fuck all to do with.”

Gwaine blinked at her and didn’t say anything. It seemed like something might have gotten through to him.

Mordred scuffed the carpet with his shoe. He opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated. Finally, he sighed and spoke up. “I know this is a bad time, but I was wondering what happens on Monday. When we’re all together again. I consider you all friends. Am I wrong?”

“No,” Arthur answered as honestly as he could. He was stuck with Morgana and he didn’t really like Gwaine, but he did like Mordred. And then there was Merlin. He absolutely wanted to keep him in his life.

“So, on Monday, what happens?” Mordred asked again.

“Are we still friends, you mean?” Morgana looked at Gwaine pointedly. “If we’re friends now, that is?”

“Yeah,” Mordred answered.

“Do you want the truth?” Morgana asked.

“Yeah, I want the truth.”

Morgana shook her head. She looked really conflicted. “I don’t think so.”

“With all of us or just Gwaine?” Merlin asked with a smile.

Morgana stared at her feet. “With all of you.”

“That’s a really nice attitude, Gana.” Arthur really thought she was starting to turn a corner.

“I’m just being honest, dear brother. You should try it. Just imagine Mordred coming up to you at school on Monday, what would you do? You’re there with all of your footie mates. I know exactly what you would do. You would be polite and say ‘hi” and then you would mock him to all of your friends.”

“No.” Arthur had to believe he was better than that. Though there was a sick feeling in his stomach knowing that his sister wasn’t being completely ridiculous.

“What if I came up to you?” Merlin asked.

“Same exact thing.”

“You are a bitch!” Gwaine cried.

Morgana narrowed her eyes. “Because I’m telling the truth? That makes me a bitch?”

“No! Because you just sat there and pretended like I was the scum of the Earth for judging you and then you turn around and say something like that? I was exactly right about you. You know how shitty that is to do to someone! But you don't have the stones to stand up to your friends and tell 'em that you'll be friends with whoever you goddamned please!”

“Well, what about you, you hypocrite? Why don’t you take Merlin to one of your heavy metal vomit parties?”

Merlin laughed.

“Or take Arthur out to the parking lot to get high? Or what about me? What would your friends say if they saw us walking down the hall together? They’d laugh their arses off and you would most likely tell that you were shagging me so they would forgive you for being seen with me!”

Gwaine pointed at Morgana. “Don’t you dare speak about my friends! You don’t know any of my friends, you don't look at any of my friends and you certainly wouldn't condescend to speak to any of my friends so you just stick to the things you know, shopping, nail varnish, your father's BMW and your poor--rich--drunk mother.”

“Shut up!” Morgana roared.

“And as far as the two of us being seen walking down the hall together, you can just forget it. It’s never going to happen!”

“Yeah? Good!” Morgana was sobbing by now.

Mordred, who had been surprisingly silent since he was the one who started this conversation, looked up at the ceiling. “So am I to assume that Merlin and I are just better people than you lot, huh? Us freaks?” He turned to Merlin. “Would you do that to me?”

“No,” Merlin answered quickly and easily. “I don’t have any friends and I’d like to think the kind of mates I’d have wouldn’t mind.” 

Arthur grinned. He wouldn’t have expected anything less from him.

Mordred looked at each of them. “I just want to tell you that I wouldn’t do that to any of you. I wouldn’t and I will not. Because I think that is horrible. It’s fucking horrible.”

“Your friends wouldn’t mind because they look up to us.” Morgana truly didn’t know when to leave well enough alone. 

Mordred shook his head and let out a dark chuckle. “You are so full of yourself. Why are you like that?”

“Do you think I want to be like this?” Morgana wiped at her eyes furiously. “But this the way it is. One Saturday is not going to change that.” She covered her eyes and sniffled. “I hate it! I hate having to be everything my friends want me to be.”

“So why do you do it?”

Morgana sucked in a breath. “It’s because it’s what my father expects. I told you he doesn’t respect me. Arthur, the pressure he puts on you is insane, but sometimes I wish that he expected more from me, too. He doesn’t think I’m smart. He just expects me to be this plastic doll that does nothing with her life but marries well.”

She put her head in her hands. She slowly slid her hands across her face and put them in her lap and stared down. “I tried to think of what I wanted to write in that essay Mr. Pendragon wanted us to do - telling him who we are. I stared at a blank paper for an hour because I have no fucking clue who I am.” She glanced over at Arthur. “I took this test once. It was just in a magazine, so perhaps it wasn’t even accurate, but I found out I have a 130 IQ. I don’t want to just be some spoiled, superficial, pretty bird. I want to be in some of those academic clubs Mordred talked about before. I want it, but I don’t know how to do it. The pressure that father puts on us...I wish I knew how to change things, for both of us.”

Arthur reached over and squeezed her hand.

“I’m so sorry, Morgana,” Mordred’s voice was shaky. “I know about that pressure.” He bit his lip and sighed. “Do you know why I’m here today?”

No one said anything.

“I’m here because Mr. Percival found a gun in my locker.”

Merlin gasped.

Arthur slid closer to Mordred. “What was the gun for?”

Mordred covered his mouth. “Forget it.”

“No way, mate.” Arthur pushed. “You brought it up, so just tell us.”

Mordred sniffled. “If I don’t follow in my father’s footsteps...I...I’m already behind. I know how disappointed my mum will be. I’m disappointed in myself. That stupid elephant...it ruined everything.”

“Oh, Mordred.” Morgana looked at him with pity. 

Mordred banged his fist against a chair. “I was just considering my options.”

Morgana shook her head vehemently. “Offing yourself is not an option.”

“It’s not like I did it,” Mordred said far too blithely.

“It was a hand gun?” Merlin asked.

“No, it was a flare gun. It went off in my locker,” Mordred explained.

“Really?” Arthur snorted. He couldn’t help it.

“It’s not funny,” Mordred insisted.

Arthur would beg to differ and by the look on everyone else’s faces, he wasn’t the only one.

Mordred cracked a smile. “I guess it is.”

Everyone started to laugh.

“My fucking locker was destroyed,” Mordred added.

This made Arthur and Gwaine laugh even harder.

Arthur turned to Merlin, who wasn’t laughing, and had a bit of a mischievous look in his eye.

“Do you want to know what I did to get detention?” Merlin asked everyone.

Arthur grinned and waited for the answer expectantly.

Merlin smiled. “Nothing. I didn’t have anything better to do.”

Arthur closed his eyes and his shoulders started to shake. That was just perfect.

Everyone else started to giggle as well. 

“You’re laughing at me.”

“No,” Arthur said even though he truly could not manage a straight face.

“Yeah, you are.”

Arthur threw his head back as Morgana fell over as she let out peals of laughter.

~*~

Everything changed after that moment. For the first time in a long time, Merlin really felt free and happy. It looked like a weight had been lifted from everyone else as well. 

They found a record player in the room everyone - minus Merlin - got high in. They decided to throw caution to the wind and have a mini-dance party. It was the most fun Merlin had in ages.

They had no idea where Mr. Pendragon was, but it was a relief, that he was somewhere that he must not have heard the music. They didn’t push their luck and just played one song.

It was almost time to leave and Merlin found himself feeling despondent again. They were all sitting on a bannister by the stairs. He still wasn’t sure what would happen on Monday and he wondered if this would be it for them.

He could feel Arthur’s gaze occasionally drift over to him and he felt warm knowing that Arthur was looking at him. Merlin, however, tried to focus straight ahead. If he started looking at Arthur now, he would never stop - though that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.

“Mordred, are you going to write your paper?” Morgana asked him.

“Yeah, why?”

Morgana shrugged. “I just think it’s a waste for all us to write our papers, don’t you think?”

“Well, that’s what Mr. Pendragon wants.”

“True, but I think we can all say the same thing. It would be more efficient this way.”

Mordred chuckled. “You just don’t want to write your paper.”

Morgana threw up her hands. “Yes, that’s right, but you are the smartest, right?”

Mordred basked with pride and nodded.

“We trust you.”

Mordred still looked hesitant and turned to get Arthur and Merlin.

Merlin had barely been paying attention, but nodded along with Arthur.

“Alright, I’ll do it.”

Morgana grinned. 

Arthur leaned over. “Hey, Gana?” 

She faced him.

“We can talk to father together. It’s not fair the way he’s treating you. You can take your A-Levels and when you go to college everything will be different.”

Morgana looked really touched. “That means a lot to me, Arthur, but it’s not just about me. You need to be able to be yourself, too.” She glanced at Merlin. “You deserve to be happy.”

Arthur blushed and Morgana grinned wider.

Merlin felt strange. Now, instead of just Arthur, he felt someone else watching him. He looked to his left and saw Morgana eyeing him. 

When she saw Merlin returning her stare, she chuckled and pulled at Merlin’s sweater. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

Morgana didn’t answer him. “Come on.”

Merlin hopped down and followed her.

They entered the boy’s restroom. 

Morgana looked around and wrinkled her nose. “I always wondered what it would be like in the boy’s loo.” She sighed. “Some mysteries should remain unsolved.” She dragged Merlin over to the sink. “I want to clean you up a little.”

Merlin shrunk back. “Why? Am I...Is there something wrong?”

Morgana cocked her head to the side and smiled warmly at him. “No. You’re very handsome, Merlin. My brother doesn’t fall for just anyone.”

Merlin knew he was blushing furiously now. He ran his teeth along his bottom lip. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” She softly brushed the fringe off of Merlin’s forehead. “I don’t think you should hide these beautiful, blue eyes.” 

Merlin smiled.

Morgana reached for her bag. “Unfortunately, I don’t have any shampoo - no offense - but I do have some scissors. I could give you a little trim, if that’s alright.”

Merlin instinctively paused, since he was mostly fine the way he looked, but he didn’t see the harm and he liked bonding with Morgana like this.

Merlin ran some water over his face and through his hair. He ended up changing into a black t-shirt from his bag. Morgana trimmed the back and his fringe. She also wiped the eyeliner off.

She stepped back and examined her handiwork. “You look a lot better without that black shit under your eyes.”

“Hey, I like that black shit.”

Morgana ran her hands through his hair, apparently not completely satisfied.

Merlin didn’t want to ruin the bonding, but was curious. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

“Because you’re letting me.” Morgana laughed.

Merlin chuckled. He sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“I started that whole virgin discussion. I was judging you and I wasn’t being fair. I didn’t realize…” He trailed off.

Morgana raised her eyebrow. “What?”

“You’re more like me than I realized.”

Morgana stopped fussing with his hair. “Well, I will take that as a compliment.”

Merlin grabbed her hand and they both smiled.

~*~

Arthur was starting to get restless. Gwaine had gone back to where Uther had isolated him. Mordred was working on the, now, group paper, and he didn’t know where Morgana had spirited Merlin off to.

He blew out a breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he almost stumbled back. Merlin was walking toward him. He had changed his shirt and he had somehow gotten a haircut. They were relatively small changes, but it still felt huge. 

Merlin’s hair was shorter and more tame, but more importantly, the fringe on his forehead was cut way back. It was beautiful.

Merlin nervously stopped in front of Arthur. He looked down at the floor and shifted from foot to foot.

“What happened to you?” Arthur winced. That probably didn’t come out right.

Merlin immediately looked up and his eyes widened. “Why? Morgana did it. What’s wrong?”

Arthur couldn’t take his eyes off him. “Nothing. You just look so different. I can see your face.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“It’s good!” Arthur never meant anything more.

Merlin’s smile brightened up his whole face and Arthur knew he had it bad.

He truly could not stop looking at Merlin. He tripped over his feet when he went to collect his jacket. The one thing that diverted his attention was when Gwaine and Morgana walked back into the library. He had his arm around her. Arthur did a double take.

Morgana moved away from Gwaine and sauntered over to her brother.

Arthur’s mouth fell open. “Have I landed in _The Twilight Zone_?”

Morgana chuckled. “I’m just trying something. I’m hoping to see daddy’s head explode when I introduce him to Gwaine.

Arthur threw his head back and laughed.

He retrieved his jacket and met up with the whole group as they walked out. 

Uther was waiting by the library door. They all coolly walked by him. Mordred had left their paper on his table. If Uther didn’t like it, then that was too bad. Arthur was sure none of them would mind another Saturday all together. 

When they walked through the halls, they spotted Gaius sweeping. They all said hello or nodded at him.

“See you, next Saturday!” Gwaine laughed as he passed by him.

When they got outside, Arthur immediately spotted his father’s BMW. Agravaine looked at him with an annoyed expression.

He could almost feel that he was starting to tense up, but Merlin put his hand under his chin and turned Arthur to face him.

All the tension melted away as Merlin smiled at him. They stared into each other’s eyes for what felt like forever.

Merlin gulped. “You don’t have to do anything with your father over there. I know it might be awkward and I don’t anything to happen, if you don’t want-”

Arthur cut him off by pressing his lips to Merlin’s softly as he cupped his face. When Merlin melted into the kiss and put his arms around him, Arthur deepened it. Their tongues briefly met and Arthur was already delirious. If he felt like this already, he wasn’t sure what would happen when they went further.

They parted and pressed their foreheads together. 

When they separated, Merlin grinned as he ripped a patch of the side of Arthur’s jacket. “I’ll see you Monday.”

“Definitely,” Arthur whispered.

They slowly backed away from each other without breaking eye contact. Arthur only stopped when he bumped into the car. Reluctantly, he wrenched open the door.

He looked at his father’s disapproving scowl and realized he just didn’t care what he thought. He was too happy.

“I don’t know what kind of games you’re playing, Arthur, but it stops right now,” Agravaine said.

Arthur stared at his father. “No.”

Agravaine looked gobsmacked. “I beg your pardon?”

“I said no. Your son is gay father and if you don’t like it, that’s too bad. I’m happy.”

Agravaine started to respond, but his words faltered. He looked ashen as he looked at something outside the window.

Arthur followed his gaze and smirked. Morgana and Gwaine were really putting on a show.

“Who is that man molesting my daughter?”

“I believe that would be Morgana’s new boyfriend. Trust me he is far worse than mine.”

“Arthur, that- your - this is unacceptable.” Agravaine spluttered.

Arthur patted him on the shoulder. “We have a lot to talk about, father.”

His father looked flabbergasted and torn between harassing Arthur or watching Gwaine and Morgana.

Arthur turned and felt like this smile would be permanently plastered to his face. He looked out the windshield. Merlin was further away now, but as if sensing Arthur’s eyes on him, he turned and smiled while pumping his fist in the air.

It was awesome. Arthur didn’t know exactly what would happen on Monday, but he was sure, it would be a lot better than he had been anticipating. He never believed one day could change your whole world, but that’s exactly what happened. 

Best Saturday detention ever.


End file.
